Coaster



United States Patent 3,013,689 COASTER Ralph Freeman Shropshire, Amissville, Va., assignor to Nancy Reid and Heleu-Charelle Goldberg, both of New York, N.Y. H

Filed Aug. 4,1959, Ser. No. 831,539 1 Claim. (Cl. 21S-100.5)

The present invention relates to a coaster and more particularly to anapkin which can also be used as a coaster for beverage glasses.

Coasters made of metal or wood have been used for many years for beverage glasses. Such coasters, of course, are expensive and difficult to keep clean. Such coasters also have the disadvantage of adhering to the bottom of a wet glass and often are only partially adhered to the glass and fall oi when the yglass is lifted.

It has been the more recent practice to use small paper napkins as coasters. Such paper napkins are cheaper than the usual wood or metal coasters and have the advantage of being discardable after use.

However, such paper napkins have the disadvantage that they are not water-resistant so that the liquid of a glass will go through the napkin and stain the piece of furniture on which the glass is resting. Another disadvantage of such napkins is that they become soggy rather quickly so that they are easily torn and destroyed.

Furthermore, napkins do not tend to retain their shape after being folded so that they cannot be Wrapped around the bottom of a glass and will fall off a glass when the glass is lifted.

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages and has for one of its objects an improved water proof coaster.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved coaster which is inthe vform of a paper napkin.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved napkin-type coaster which will readily retain its shape when wrapped around the lower edge of a glass.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved coaster which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claim, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. l is an exploded perspective view of the improved coaster made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional View of the coaster showing the relationship of the layers of material when assembled together;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the coaster showing its function as a coaster for glasses;

FIG. 4 is a` perspective view showing the coaster wrapped around the bottom of the glass so that it can be picked up with the glass; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another form of the invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings the coaster 1 of the present invention is comprised of a pair of absorbent outer layers of material 2 between which a pliable water proof layer 3 is interposed. The two outer layers 2 are preferably made from the usual thin tissue ice paper from'which present day napkins are made. Such tissue paper has the advantage of absorbing moisture to prevent any liquid from running olf. However, it will be understood that any material may `be used for the two outer layers.

The inner layer 3 is preferably made of aluminum foil or some other easily pliable impervious sheet metal. The inner layer 3 will prevent water from seeping through the napkin but at the same time it may be folded into any desired shape and will maintain the shape into V which it is folded so that when the napkin 1 is wrapped around glass, it can be llifted with the glass without falling off. Instead of a metallic foil, the inner llayer 3 may be made from plastic which does not have memory characteristics, i.e., a plastic which does not tend to revert to its original position after being bent. It will, of course, be understood that any water-resistant material which will remain in any shape into which i-t is folded may also be used.

The three layers are then united to each other by' stitching around the edges, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 at S. The stitch will leave the inner layer 3 of the napkin unattached to the outer layers 2 so as to maintain absorbent qualities of the outer layers 2. However, it will be understood that it is unnecessary to bind the three layers together by stiching and 'that other means of mounting the three layers together may be used without deviating from the spirit of the invention.

It will also be understood that while, for convenience, three layers are shown in the drawings, it is within the scope of the present invention to use more than two outer layers 4and more than one inner layer.

If desired, the outer layers may have advertising or other material printed thereon, as is presently common on small napkins.

A-s shown in FIG. 3, the coaster `1 is laying on -a ilat surface, such as a table (not shown) and the beverage glass 4 is on top of it. Any moisture from the glass will be absorbed by the absorbent outer layer 2. The moisture will not go through the napkin since the inner impervious layer 3 will stop any liquid so the table will not be stained nor will the coaster become soggy.

When it is desired to lift up the glass the coaster may be wrapped around the bottom of the glass as shown in FIG. 4. The pliability of the metal foil 3 will permit the coaster to retain its shape around the bottom of the glass and hence when the glass is lifted the coaster will not fall off the glass. After use, the coaster may be discarded, if desired. Since the metal foil 3 permits the coaster to be bent in any direction, the coaster of the present invention may be wrapped around the bottom of any glass, regardless of its size or shape.

While the invention has been described in connection with a coaster in the form of a napkin, it will be understood that the coaster may assume any form. For example, the improved coaster of the present invention may be in the form of a doily as shown in FIG. 5.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a Water proof coaster which will not become soggy and which may be fitted around the bottom of any glass and maintain its shape without falling on the glass when the glass is lifted.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advatnages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A coaster for wrapping application to the bottom and sides of a generally cylindrical drinking vessel comprising an upper layer of absorbent paper sheet material, an

intermediate layer of imperforate pliable metal foil, a lower layer of absorbent paper sheet material, the area of each of said layers of material being larger than the area of the bottom of the drinking vessel to which the coaster is to be applied, said upper and lower layers being attached to said intermediate layer along a peripheral zone of said intermediate layer, said layers being unattached to each other at areas within said peripheral zone, whereby said coaster may be wrapped around the sides and bottom of the vessel and conform substantially to the surface configuration thereof, with the upper layer engaged with said surface to absorb moisture therefrom and with the intermediate layer maintaining the coaster in said conguration conforming relation to the vessel and protecting the lower layer from said moisture.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,683,205 Packard Sept. 4, 1928 1,924,926 Gray Aug. 29, 1933 2,205,687 Elsaesser June 25, 1940 2,715,089 Michener et al. Aug. 9, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 347,713 Great Britain May 1, 1931 1,022,575 France Dec. 17, 1952 

